A Philadelphia Eagles fan has pulled of a bold heist of a stadium seat from Super Bowl LII, smuggling it out of the venue and onto his flight home.
The unidentified man was caught on camera carrying the stolen seat onto his American Airlines flight from Minneapolis to Charlotte, North Carolina on Monday, the day after the Eagles won it all.
Following the upset victory in US Bank Stadium, multiple Eagles fans were spotted ripping seats from the venue as they celebrated wildly – although Minneapolis police said there were no major arrests at the stadium.
Then, a video posted by Barstool Sports shows one Eagles fan in a coat check area with a stadium seat under his arm covered clumsily with a jacket, shaking hands with an attendant.
Video shows one Eagles fan in a coat check area with a stadium seat under his arm covered clumsily with a jacket, shaking hands with an attendant
Eagles fans were seen ripping several seats out as they celebrated wildly after the Super Bowl
‘It’s like welcoming them into our home and then before going home the child has to break the china,’ said Zak Fick, a die-hard Vikings fan who posted photos of the damage online
The next day, Monday, another man was waiting for his flight home when he spotted the seat smuggler next to him with the merchandise cavalierly attached to his carry-on bag.
The man with the stolen seat bragged loudly about his team’s victory in the gate area, an eyewitness said.
‘I kept waiting for somebody to say that he was too intoxicated to get on the plane or that he had a stolen item,’ Marcus Certa, who was returning to Vermont after attending Sunday’s game, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
‘The TSA and the feds are more concerned how much pot you have, not that you have a seat stolen from a stadium,’ speculated Certa.
Certa said he was sure it was the same man seen in the coat check video – the seat even had a coat check ticket still attached.
Marcus Certa snapped this covert picture of the stolen seat as a man brazenly carried it on to his flight home in the Minneapolis airport
Certa snapped a covert picture of the stolen seat and posted to Instagram with a message to US Bank Stadium saying, ‘You appear to be missing a seat. The drunk guy next to me has it.’
The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, which runs the stadium, said it was investigating the incident, and that any damaged seats would be replaced immediately.
Fans of the Minnesota Vikings, who normally play in the stadium, were not so happy about the vandalism however.
‘It’s like welcoming them into our home and then before going home the child has to break the china,’ said Zak Fick, a die-hard Vikings fan from South Dakota, in an interview with the Star-Tribune.
Fick posted several photos online showing where seats had been torn from section 307, where tickets went for more than $1,200.
‘To Philadelphia fans, you are more than welcome to come to our stadium. We love opening our homes and cities and expect respect in return,’ Fick said. ‘Everybody is happy for you guys. You can be happy without the blot on the celebration.’